Our Lord Jesus comes... every day!

Readings for December 1, 2013

 

 First Sunday of Advent 

L-Ewwel Ħadd ta' l-Avvent

Messalin A pp 63

Reading 1                                                                     ISaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction,  and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni  - Profeta Isaija 2, 1-5

Il-kelma li ġiet f'dehra lil Isaija bin Amos, dwar Ġuda u Ġerusalemm. Għad jiġri fl-aħħar jiem li l-għolja tad-dar tal-Mulej togħla 'l fuq mill-qċaċet tal-muntanji, u tintrefa' 'l fuq mill-għoljiet, lejha għad jiġru l-ġnus kollha. Kotra ta' popli għad jiġu u jgħidu: "Ħalli mmorru u nitilgħu fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej, lejn id-dar ta' Alla ta' Ġakobb, biex jgħallimna triqatu, u nimxu fil-mogħdijiet tiegħu." Għad min Sijon joħroġ it-tagħlim u l-kelma tal-Mulej minn Ġerusalemm. Il-Mulej jagħmel il-ħaqq bejn il-ġnus, u jaqta' s-sentenza bejn ħafna popli; u huma jibdlu x-xwabel tagħhom f'sikek tal-moħriet, u l-lanez tagħhom fi mnieġel. Ebda ġens ma jerfa' x-xabla kontra ġens ieħor u s-sengħa tal-gwerra ma jitgħallmuhiex iżjed. Ejja, dar Ġakobb, ħalli nimxu fid-dawl tal-Mulej! Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                                           PSalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.                                        R/

Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.                                                       R/

According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.                                             R/

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.                                              R/

Because of my brothers and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.                                                       R/

Salm Responsorjali                    -  Salm  121 (122)

  

                R/                  Immorru ferħana f'dar il-Mulej

Fraħt meta qaluli:

"Sejrin f'dar il-Mulej!"

Diġa qegħdin riġlejna fi bwiebek Ġerusalemm!            R/

Lejha t-tribujiet jitilgħu,

it-tribujiet tal-Mulej,

biex, skond il-liġi ta' Iżrael,

ifaħħru isem il-Mulej.

Għax hekk twaqqfu t-tronijiet tal-ħaqq,

it-tronijiet tad-dar ta' David.                                               R\

Itolbu s-sliem għal Ġerusalemm:

Ħa jkollhom is-sliem dawk kollha li jħobbuk!

Ħa jkun hemm is-sliem ġewwa l-ħitan tiegħek,

u l-ġid fil-palazzi tiegħek.                                                   R/

Minħabba  ħuti u ħbiebi,

ħallini ngħidlek: "Is-sliem għalik!"

Minħabba f'dar il-Mulej, Alla tagħna,

nixtieq illi jkollok il-ġid.                                                       R/

Reading 2                                                                     ROMans 13:11-14

Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh . This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni  -   mill-Ittra lir-Rumani - 13, 11-14a

Ħuti, waslet is-siegħa li intom tqumu min-ngħas; għax is-salvazzjoni tagħna hi eqreb minn meta bdejna nemmnu. Il-lejl għoddu għadda, u qorob il-jum.  Inwarrbu mela l-għemil tad-dlam u nilbsu l-armi tad-dawl. Ngħixu kif jixraq, bħal f'bi nhar; mhux bl-ikel  iż-żejjed u s-sokor,  mhux  biż-żina u t-tbaħrid, mhux  bil-ġlied u l-għira. Imma ilbsu lil Sidna Ġesu' Kristu u ħallukom mill-ħbieb tal-ġisem u l-ġibdiet tiegħu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                                     MatThew 24:37-44

Jesus said to his disciples:  “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.  Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.  Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” This is the Word of The Lord.

 L-Evanġelju  -  skond San Mattew 24, 37-44

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: "Bħal fi żmien Noe', hekk tkun il-miġja ta' Bin il-bniedem. Għax kif fiż-żmien ta' qabel id-dilluvju kienu jieklu u jixorbu, jiżżewġu u jżewġu sa dakinhar li Noe' daħal fl-arka, u b'xejn ma' ntebħu sa ma wasal id-dilluvju u ġarr lil kulħadd,  hekk tkun il-miġja ta' Bin il-bniedem. Imbagħad tnejn ikunu fl-għalqa: wieħed jittieħed u l-ieħor jitħalla; żewġ nisa jkunu jitħnu flimkien: waħda titieħed u l-oħra titħalla. Ishru, mela, għax ma tafux il-jum li fih jiġi Sidkom.   Kunu afu dan, li kieku sid id-dar kellu jkun jaf f'liema  sahra tal-lejl se jiġi l-ħalliel, kien jishar u ma jħallix min jinfidlu l-ħitan ta' daru.   Mela kunu lesti intom ukoll, għax  qatt ma tistgħu  tobsru s-siegħa li fiha jiġi Bin il-bniedem." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY:

Stay Awake!

Gospel Commentary for 1st Sunday of Advent  by Pontifical Preacher  Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

The first year of the three year liturgical cycle, year A, begins Sunday. Matthew's Gospel accompanies us through this year.  This Gospel is characterized by its ample reporting of Jesus' teachings -- the famous sermons, such as the Sermon on the Mount -- and its attention to the relationship between the Law and Gospel (the Gospel is the "New Law"). It is also considered the most "ecclesiastical" Gospel because of its account of the primacy of Peter and because of its use of the term "Church," which is not encountered in the other Gospels.

The statement that stands out among all others in this Gospel of the First Sunday of Advent is "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. […] So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." We ask ourselves why God would keep hidden something so important as the hour of his coming, which, for each of us, coincides with the hour of death.

The traditional answer is: "So that we will be vigilant, each one of us supposing that it will happen in his days" (St. Ephrem the Syrian). But the principal reason is that God knows us; he knows what terrible anxiety it would be for us to know beforehand the exact hour and to await its slow, inexorable coming. It is that which causes the most fear in regard to certain illnesses.

Today there are more people that die of unforeseen heart problems than those who die of incurable illnesses. But the latter cause more fear because they seem to take away the uncertainty that allows us to hope.
The uncertainty of the hour should not cause us to be careless but to be vigilant. If the liturgical year is at its start, the civil year is at its end. This is an optimal occasion for a sapiential reflection on the meaning of our existence. In autumn, nature itself invites us to reflect on time that passes. That which the poet Giuseppe Ungaretti said of the soldiers in the trenches on the Carso front in the First World War holds for all men: "They are on the trees as leaves in autumn." They are ready to fall at any moment. "Time passes," said our Dante Alighieri, "and man pays no attention."

An ancient philosopher expressed this fundamental experience with a celebrated phrase: "Everything is in flux."  Life is like a television screen. The screen is a kind of palimpsest, one program follows and erases the previous one. The screen is the same but the images change. This is how it is with us: The world remains, but we come and go, one after the other. Of all the names, the faces, the news that fills the papers and television today -- of me, of you, of all of us -- what will remain in a few years or a decade? Nothing of nothing. Man is nothing but "a design created by a wave on the sand, which the next wave will wash away."

Let us see what faith has to tell us about this fact that everything passes. "Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever" (1 John 2:17). There is someone who does not pass, God, and there is also a way for us not to completely disappear: Do God's will, that is, believe and follow God. In this life we are like a raft carried along by the current of a roaring river headed for the open sea, from which there is no return.

At a certain point the raft comes near to the bank. It is now or never and you leap onto the shore. What a relief when you feel the rock under your feet! This is the sensation often felt by those who come to the faith. We might recall at the end of this reflection the words left by St. Teresa of Avila as a kind of spiritual testament: "Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God alone remains."

[Translated from the Italian by Joseph G. Trabbic]